Having cheated death at the hand of the Eye Network, Magnum P.I. soon will return via NBC with Season 5 — and at least one “ethically questionable” bit of undercover work.
When last we tuned in, partners-in-private detecting Thomas Magnum and Juliet Higgins (played by Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks) acted on four seasons’ worth of UST and shared a passionate kiss against an improbably perfect sunset. Elsewhere in that finale, Detective Gordon Katsumoto got suspended from the HPD, while Rick and Suzy welcomed the birth of their daughter.
What’s new for Magnum P.I. in its new NBC home? And what things are wonderfully the same? Ahead of the double-episode Season 5 premiere (airing Sunday, Feb. 19, starting at 9/8c), TVLine sat down with Hernandez and Weeks to get a peek ahead….
TVLINE | All right. Last April, I’m talking to Jay for the episode he directed, and he says that if Magnum and Higgins are ever going to happen, it’d have to be at the end of the final season of the show.
JAY HERNANDEZ | Yeah.
TVLINE | What happened after that?
HERNANDEZ | Well, a lot happened after that! [Laughs] We got canceled with great numbers and a fan base, and then found another network to pick us up.
TVLINE | When I spoke to you that April, did you have any indication that a kiss would be happening in the season finale?
HERNANDEZ | I’m trying to remember….
PERDITA WEEKS | [To Jay] Yeah, you would have known. We would have already shot it.
HERNANDEZ | [To Perdita] Really?
WEEKS | We wrapped on the 4th or 5th of April.
HERNANDEZ | See, for me, the timeline is a blur. Ask her the timeline questions!
WEEKS | I think we would have already shot it. And just because they kissed at the end didn’t mean that they would get together.
TVLINE | In that same interview, when I asked about renewal prospects you said, “We’re golden” — so that one worked out well for you.
HERNANDEZ | You know what, it did work out. It’s like, I didn’t know how it was going to happen but I knew it was going to happen. And ultimately, look what happened.